Teaching English Language Through E.E. Cummings’ In Just :
An Experiment.
Dr.V.Christopher Ramesh
Asst. Professor, English
Govt.Arts College, Melur-625 106.
Madurai District,
Tamil Nadu.
Email: [email protected]
Language is one of the most important parts of any culture. Language binds
people, makes connection with others, becomes a medium in education, and acts as a
strong cultural guardian in the form of literature. Culture and literature do not limit their
uses for material reasons alone. Rather they are used to express emotions as well. Hence,
language learning in general, and foreign language learning in particular should also
involve cultural and emotional aspects of the language use.
Literature being a record of various human emotions and cultural symbols is a
good mode of teaching language too. To demonstrate this proposition, the author takes a
small poem written by the American poet e.e. cummings as example. The poet’s use of
language in his poems is peculiar and this example would hold interest of the students
beyond the scope of mere language learning. For ELT through literature, a few small
literary pieces with plenty of exercises or activities would help develop functional
English of the learners. Such activity/ exercise based pedagogy would be helpful in
teaching English even in a large class with forty to sixty students.
The language aspect of literature in general, and this poem in particular, is dealt
with according to the various linguistic parts of language namely, the phonemes or
sounds; the morphemes or words; the syntax or sentences or grammar; the semantics or
meaning; the pragmatics or practical usage. Therefore, the students, after this lesson,
would have learnt sounds or pronunciation of new words; new words and their synonyms
or meaning; grammar employed; textual meaning of the poem; contextual or hidden
meaning of the poem. The targeted students are undergraduate non-major arts or
engineering students.
The Poem : ‘In Just’- e.e. cummings
in Just
spring
when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame bolloonman
whistles
far
and
wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it’s
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far
and
wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it’s
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
Sounds
The poet uses some strange words whose pronunciation would also be strange.
For example:
1.Luscious- it sounds like
- laz she yes
2. Piracies –it sounds like – pai ray sees
3. Queer – it sounds like – kwee ye / kweer
Exercise:: Please say the following sentence five times loudly, giving importance to the
pronunciation of the underlined words:
‘The QUEER looking PIRATES ate LUSCIOUS ice-cream.
Words
The words above have different meanings too. They are as follows:
1. Luscious : a. having a delicious taste b. sexually attractive c. appealing to senses
Synonyms: delicious, sensual, pleasant
2. Piracies: a.the act of robbing ships b. play or act resembling such robbery c. un
authorized use of others’ ideas
Synonyms: looting, hijacking, plundering
3. Queer : a. worthless/ counterfeit; b. differing in odd ways form normal c. extreme
Synonyms :nauseous, un usual, odd.
Exercise:
I. Fill up the blanks with appropriate word from the list: Luscious, delicious, sensual,
pleasant:
1. The lunch was………………….
2. The yogurt was …………………….
3.
The aroma from the incense stick is…………………
4. John Keats enjoyed …………….pleasures given by nature.
II.Fill up the blanks with appropriate word from the list: piracy, looting, hijacking,
plundering:
1. The unruly crowd started …………….the nearby shops.
2. Video …………..threatens the existence of cinema industry.
3. ………….the aero planes has been a strategy of terrorists.
4. Soon after the victory over enemy nation, the soldiers started ………….their wealth.
III Fill up the blanks with appropriate word from the list: queer, nauseous, unusual, odd.
1. I don’t like your dress. You look ……..in it.
2. Octopus is a ……………..looking creature.
3. The stench from the garbage is ………………
4. The …………… crowd at the bank today spoiled my works.
Grammar
Poetry usually would not employ full clauses. The beauty of a poem depends on
the crafty use of phrases and sentence fragments. However, this poem is so different from
other poems.
1. it does not use normal word and line spacing. In some places, even names
come close without space to suggest visually, that those characters are
physically close:
Example: eddieandbill, bettyandisbel
2. even the proper nouns do not start with capital letters:
Example: e.e. cummings, eddie, bill, betty, isbel
Exercise: Write two sentences using the correct form words found in the examples.
Comprehension
1.Textual meaning
1. Question: Why do the children abandon their games and come running?
Answer: Because, they see a balloon man selling balloons and are attracted by him.
2.Question: What are the physical aspects of spring the children love?
Answer: Children love the water puddles that gather as a result of spring rain, where the
children can jump and play.
2.Hidden meaning
1.Question: What does the balloon man symbolically represent?
Answer: The balloon man symbolically represents the joys spring season brings to us;
like a balloon man, spring would bring happiness to the children.
2.What is the message that the poem conveys?
Answer: It conveys that we should love nature like children, so that it is protected.
This method also works well with one act plays and short stories as materials.
This method, though not very novel, has worked successfully for the author in the
conventional UG classrooms and training sessions with engineering students. In
engineering colleges, this activity based English Language Teaching through literature is
sure to get the students’ interest as it offers a welcome change from the dry Technical
English syllabus. Hence, ELT through literature with only a few small literary works, but
with many activities or exercises produces successful learning outcome with tertiary level
students.
Works Cited
1. Verma, S.K., Krishnaswamy N. Modern Linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Delhi.1994.
2. Yule, George. The Study of Language. 3rd Edn. Cambridge University Press.New
Delhi. 2006.
3. Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory. Cambridge
University Press. 1991.
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